Gov. adds newest designer drugs to Fla. list

BROTHER, TAMERLAN TSARNAEV, AND LATER LED TO THE CAPTURE OF THE YOUNGER BROTHER. WE'LL HAVE MORE DETAILS AHEAD AT 6:30. WHATEVER YOU CALL THE DRUGS, THEY'RE NOW ILLEGAL TO SELL IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA. ON THE STREETS THE DRUGS ARE COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA, BATH SALTS OR INCENSE. MAKING OR SELLING THEM IS NOW A FELONY. WE TALKED WITH A LOCAL DOCTOR AND TEENAGERS WHO HAVE USED THE DRUGS TO SEE IF THEY THINK THE LAW WILL EVEN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. WELL, THESE ARE VERY DANGEROUS DRUGS WITH CATCHY NAMES. THEY COME IN SHINY PACKAGES LIKE THIS. FOR PEOPLE WHO USE OR SMOKE THEM, THERE'S AN INSTANT EFFECT. BUT FOR PEOPLE WHO SELL THEM, THEY COULD GO TO JAIL. IT WAS LIKE, IT TOOK OVER MY WHOLE BODY. WHY DID YOU TRY IT? BECAUSE IT WAS LEGAL. ME, I FELT LIKE I WAS GOING TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK. I FELT PARANOID. I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. I WAS NERVOUS AND SCARED. BUT 19-YEAR-OLD ANTHONY SANCHEZ HAD THE WORST EXPERIENCE. THE RIM OF MY EYES STARTED CLOSING UP, STRAIGHT BLACKNESS AND I COULDN'T SEE NOTHING FOR FIVE SECONDS AND MY EYES WERE WIDE OPEN. WERE YOU SCARED? YEAH, I COULDN'T SEE. I FELT BLIND FOR A SECOND. THEY ALL TRIED THEM. ONCE LEGAL DESIGNER DRUGS ARE NOW OFFICIALLY BANNED FOR SALE IN FLORIDA. THEY HAVE HARMLESS SOUNDING NAMES, INCENSE, POTPOURRI, K 2, SPICE, BATH SALTS. THEY'RE READILY AVAILABLE AT VARIOUS CONVENIENCE STORES. THE TEENS HAVE NO INTEREST IN TRYING THEM AGAIN. OTHER PEOPLE ARE NOT SO LUCKY. I DON'T REALLY TALK TO MY WIFE AT ALL BECAUSE ONCE I GET HOME FROM WORK, I START SMOKING IT AND FALLING ASLEEP. I DON'T INTERACT WITH MY KIDS. IT'S REALLY RUINED MY LIFE. HE'S ADDICTED TO K 2 AND SPENDS AT LEAST 600 A MONTH ON IT. HE WOULD GIVE ANYTHING TO KICK THE ADDICTION AND HE HOPES THE NEW LAW BANNING THE SALE OF THE DRUGS WILL GIVE HIM THE STRENGTH TO STOP DOING IT. THE PSYCHOLOGIST SAYS ABOUT A THIRD OF THE TEENS HE'S TREATED HAS ABUSED DESIGNER DRUGS, DESPITE THE WELL-KNOWN RISKS WHICH INCLUDE HALLUCINATIONS, PARANOIA, DEPRESSION AND WORSE. YOU CAN ACTUALLY DIE. THERE ARE CASES WHERE KIDS HAVE SMOKED THE SYNTHETIC MARIJUANAS AND HAVE DIED, GONE INTO COMAS, HAD SEIZURES. NOW GETTING A LOT OF THESE DRUGS OFF THE STREETS IS GOING TO COME DOWN TO ENFORCEMENT OF THIS NEW LAW. WE ASKED CHANNEL 4 CRIME ANALYST KEN JEFFERSON ABOUT THAT TODAY. HE SAID THAT DRUG AGENTS, LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR A LAW LIKE THIS TO PASS SO THEY COULD SPRING INTO ACTION. HE FEELS THE LAW WILL MAKE A

"I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. It hit me straight in the heart," another added.

"I felt paranoid 'cause I didn't know what was going to happen," another said. "I was just nervous. I was scared."

But 19-year-old Anthony Sanchez says he had the worst experience using designer drugs.

"The rim of my eyes started closing up, just straight blackness, and I couldn't see nothing for like five seconds and my eyes were wide open," he said. "I couldn't see. I thought I was blind for a sec."

Sanchez said he did the drugs because at the time they were legal.

Those once legal designer drugs are now officially banned for sale in Florida. Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday signed into law a measure that adds 27 new designer drugs to the state's controlled substances list. The new law now makes it a third-degree felony for someone to make or sell the drugs, or possess them with intent to sell.

The drugs have street names such as "incense," ''potpourri," ''K2," ''spice" and "bath salts," and with the right connections are readily available at various convenience stores. The synthetic drugs can cause hallucinations, seizures, paranoia and psychotic episodes, among other symptoms.

The teens say they have no interest in trying them again. Others are not so lucky.

"I don't really talk to my wife at all because once I get home from work, I instantly start smoking it, then I start falling asleep," a man named Nathan said. "I don't interact with my kids. I mean, it's really ruined my life."

Nathan said he is addicted to K2 and spends at least $600 a month on it. He'd give anything to kick the addiction, and he hopes the new law banning the sale of the drugs will give him the strength to do it.

"If they stop selling it to me, then I'm going to quit smoking it," Nathan said.

Psychiatrist Marcus De Carvalho said about a third of the teens he's treated have abused designer drugs, despite the well-known risks.

"You can actually die," he said. "There are cases where kids have smoked these synthetic marijuanas and actually have died and gone into comas, had seizures."

Copyright 2013 by News4Jax.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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